A UN resolution has been passed to address the full lifecycle of plastic, including production, design and disposal, in a bid to combat plastic pollution.

A total of 175 nations endorsed the resolution at the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-5). The legally binding agreement has the aim of completing a draft global legally binding agreement by the end of 2025.

The resolution establishes an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, which begins work in 2022. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) will convene a forum by the end of this year with stakeholders. Discussions will be “informed by science”.

President of UNEA-5 and Norway’s minister for climate and the environment, Espen Barth Eide said: “Against the backdrop of geopolitical turmoil, the UN Environment Assembly shows multilateral cooperation at its best. Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic. With today’s resolution we are officially on track for a cure.”

Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP added: “Let it be clear that the INC’s mandate does not grant any stakeholder a two-year pause. In parallel to negotiations over an international binding agreement, UNEP will work with any willing government and business across the value chain to shift away from single-use plastics, as well as to mobilise private finance and remove barriers to investments in research and in a new circular economy.”

Lord Zac Goldsmith, UK government minister for international environment said: “This agreement by governments at UNEA is truly historic, and I’m so proud that the UK co-sponsored the proposals and helped get them over the line. In the space of just one human lifetime, we have caused unimaginable damage to the global environment, choking every single part of the global ocean with plastic pollution. And although there is much to be done now to turn it into an ambitious and far-reaching treaty, we can now begin to close this ugly chapter. I am so grateful to UK negotiators for their fantastic work securing agreement this week.”

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